powered by:
valneva canada inc.
what the puck: canadiens fans divided on risky patrik laine trade
"montreal always does this. they get the has-been goal-scorers and try to shape them into something," one fan at mclean's pub said.
aug 21 2024
4 minute read
we apologize, but this video has failed to load.
try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.
tap here to see other videos from our team.
let’s not sugar-coat it. it’s a risk for the canadiens to pick up patrik laine . but you can’t win big if you don’t roll the dice.
you take risks, you can fall flat on your face or you can win the big prize. so which will it be with patrick laine? i have somehow developed a reputation as a bit of a debbie downer in the habs nation — i know, how did that happen? ha ha — but i like this trade. a lot.
in my last what the puck column , i spoke with one fan who was disappointed that habs gm kent hughes hadn’t done more to improve the team this summer by signing a major player and i had some sympathy with the guy’s point of view. pundits had been high-fiving hughes , but the fact is he hadn’t done anything that amazing this summer.
drafting ivan demidov? look, it’s super exciting but it doesn’t take a genius to take this dude if he’s still available at no. 5. hughes didn’t make any deals of note. now he has and it has shaken up the hockey world. man even spittin’ chiclets co-host ryan whitney is now officially on the canadiens bandwagon, saying:
“i kind of love this deal. montreal needs goal-scorers, they need size. now laine can be such a dog and can be so lazy and there are times (you say) ‘what the hell is this guy doing?’ … it’s exciting with him in montreal because of that fan base and what they’re starting to crave and how that team is looking to the future and the fan base has been patient and they also love a flashy goal-scorer. the skill has never been questioned, the shot has never been questioned, the size, the reach, he’s got it all, it’s — does he want to play? and now with martin st. louis, who seems to be very good at getting guys fired up, and getting guys excited, and giving guys specific roles on ‘what i need from you,’ these new-age-style coaches, i think this could be a pretty cool story.”
advertisement
advertisement
i couldn’t agree more and when you’re getting the dudes on spittin’ chiclets podcast excited, you’re clearly creating buzz in the hockey world. living in montreal and following the media here, you’d think the canadiens are a happening team, but they haven’t been for a very long time. (and please don’t bring up the 2020-2021 season, the season with 8,000 ifs and buts attached to it.) the athletic recently had a piece on bottom-feeder teams and, yes, montreal was right there.
but suddenly there’s some excitement and that’s great. i’ve been saying for months the team has to compete for the playoffs this year and as of monday, hughes made it clear they want to.
but it’s a risky move all the same. laine last scored 30 goals with the winnipeg jets in 2018-2019. his tenure with the columbus blue jackets was not a success, even if his output wasn’t so bad. he was injury prone, then checked himself into the nhl/nhlpa player assistance program with mental-health issues. he asked for a trade, which is the second time he’s done that and he’s only been on two teams in his nhl career. this is not great.
he also has a reputation for not coming to play every night and last season his coach in columbus, new laval rocket bench boss pascal vincent, benched him on occasion. laine reportedly had issues with teammates in both winnipeg and columbus.
advertisement
advertisement
but it’s still a great move on the part of hughes because if laine doesn’t pan out, it’s no biggie for the team. they weren’t supposed to make the playoffs this season in any case. the contending is only coming in a couple of years. montreal had the cap space available to spend the money and laine contract only has two season left on it. so why not roll the dice?
crazily enough, this is the first time the fans i talked to at mclean’s pub were more negative than i am.
“i personally think it’s a bad thing because i think the canadiens should focus on long term and not short term,” milan côté said. “you don’t need the big star right now because even the big star is not going to bring you the stanley cup. i can see why they did it. they want people to come to see the canadiens. you get a big star and people will buy their season tickets.”
said andré pitre, who was at the bar with his brother rené: “at first i was really excited and then i started thinking that he hasn’t been a consistent goal-scorer for a long time. montreal always does this. they get the has-been goal-scorers and try to shape them into something. and for ($8.7 million on the salary cap), that’s a lot of money.”
maxime blain thinks it’s a good trade, but he has some reservations.
advertisement
advertisement
“it’s exciting to get such a talented player,” blain said. “but will he perform with all the pressure there is here in montreal? that’s what people are worried about. we love hockey too much in montreal so there’s too much pressure. so players who don’t deal well with pressure are usually not very good in montreal.”
françois-xavier grandmont was the only fan i met who was 110 per cent behind the deal.
“i think it’ll be good to have someone here who can score goals and it’ll help the team do better than last year,” grandmont said. “sure it’s risky but it could bring some good things. the lottery period is over. this season we need to be at the very least in the playoffs. we’ve been patient enough here in montreal. it’s time for things to start happening.”
amen.
share story
